


A Series of Observations

by katietriffy



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, M/M, Original Character(s), POV Second Person, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-05-17 23:54:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5890048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katietriffy/pseuds/katietriffy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Souji Seta has just transferred to your high school in Tokyo.</p>
<p>You have no idea what you are in for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. On the Topic of Mr. Perfect

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic on Ao3! Of course it's IT fluff! (If anyone who's better at Ao3 notices I've messed up formatting, or etiquette, or smth, please tell!)
> 
> Comments appreciated, especially if they're what kind of hijinks you'd like to see Souji and the Team get into!
> 
> Crossposted from my tumblr triffywrites!

You are a student at a school in Tokyo.

It’s a good school. Prestigious, with high standards and an excellent staff. You like your classmates, you like your classes, you like your school.

You especially like the transfer student.

Seta flickers at the edges of your memory, he used to go here, right? He moved away for some reason, and now he’s back.

And there’s something about him, a set to his shoulders and a shine to his eyes and it draws you in, draws everyone in deep and long and falling. Every conversation with him feels like spinning, like the fluttering in your stomach before a confession, like being safe and warm and listened to. 

For the first week of school he is _all_ anyone talks about.

His grades are impeccable. He answers every question right when called on. He speaks softly and kindly and meaningfully. The food he brings for lunch looks and smells delicious. (He shares it sometimes, will scoop you a few bites’ worth if you ask nicely enough and catch him at a good moment. You have the most luck when he’s between phone calls.)

General opinion is that he’s perfect.

Mr. Perfect. You find you cannot disagree.

 

And he fascinates you. This perfection warrants study and careful observation.

 

You are excited to get to know Souji Seta.

 

* * *

 

(You don’t know that miles away a class is shuffling their feet and adjusting, as the teachers find new students to pick on, and a select few realize that he is not there to feed them the answers anymore.)


	2. On the Topic of Phones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Seta's looking at you with a new kind of... appreciation? As though he understands you a little better now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may be obvious, but posting will be erratic! Because college is great! 
> 
> I'm SO happy people seem to like this! As always, if you have any requests for The Hijinks, I'm open to suggestion! You can comment here, or hit me up at my tumblr. :) triffywrites.tumblr.com

You are trying to eat your lunch when it occurs to you:

Souji Seta is still on his phone.

It’s no surprise, of course, that he has faraway friends to keep in touch with. He moved here from somewhere, after all. It makes sense to contact them when he knows no one is doing much of anything, in those moments of unscheduled nothing during the school day. No, that’s not what strikes you about this.

It’s the fact that he hasn’t stopped. It’s not like it’s been all that long since he moved, but you would think the excitement would have worn off, or they’d have run out of things to say.

Before school, he’d walked trough the gates with his cell pressed tight to his ear, umbrella clutched in his other hand for the rain sure to start later in the day, and you heard “-nervous too. We can watch it together, and then we’ll both feel silly when nothing shows-” as he passed by. When you got to the classroom he was texting, fingers flying across the keypad as you watched. He had to have been juggling a few different conversations at once; you’d wondered for a moment if he ever messed up, sent something to the wrong person, but someone that perfect? No way.

But even now, on the school roof with a bento box on his lap (you wonder if there’s enough left to share) he’s still texting. Wait, no.

He’s looking right at you!

“Something bothering you?” He’s smiling gently, and who wouldn’t be flustered, really. You ask him who he’s texting, and suddenly realize that _he put the phone down to talk to you_. It seems a few other people have seen it too - you can feel them staring holes in your back.

“My friends from back home.” Oh, right, conversation. He has a patient look in his eyes, but… he also seems a bit excited? You’re not sure if it’s his posture or his smile, but something makes you think he really wants to talk about his friends. So you ask.

You’ve never heard him talk so much!

He’s texting three people right now; one is a guy a year below you, one is a girl in the same year, and one is at work, here in Tokyo. You didn’t know one of his friends had a job here, but now you do. Among other things. Frankly, most of it went in one ear and out the other - it was a bit much to take in at once. He seems to realize that and rubs the back of his neck, looking sheepish.

“Sorry. I think I got carried away. Uh, now you know, though!” He smiles at you joyfully. To keep from getting flustered again, you tell him you admire that he could stay close with his friends despite the distance.

“Oh? Thank you.” His smile turns wistful. “It would be nice to see them all the time, but in the end there’s nothing that can keep us apart.” You smile back at him, because that’s the most unrepetantly optimistic thing you’ve heard in a while, and tell him they sound like great friends to have.

Suddenly, you feel a little warm inside, and Seta’s looking at you with a new kind of… appreciation? As though he understands you a little better now. You hope you didn’t sound jealous. Wouldn’t that be embarrassing. You probably did.

 

Well. Since you have nothing left to lose, you ask if he would like to hang out today at an arcade nearby.

“Oh? Sure, sounds fun. Here, let’s trade numbers; we can hang out some other time, too.”

You’re pretty sure you heard the entire roof gasp. Since when was it this crowded? You hope you’re not coming off too nervous as you take back your phone (when did you give it to him?) and are casting about for something to say when you realize lunch is over. You both head back to the classroom. Behind a small stampede of people. Many of whom glance back over their shoulders at you, whispering.

You can still hear the chatter as the teacher enters, but Seta catches your gaze during the lecture and smiles.

 

You have a great time with Seta at the arcade that day.

 

* * *

 

 

It’s another day, and you’ve gone out to eat with him, when he does a very concerned double take at his phone. It had been buzzing non-stop, to the point that he had sheepishly said, “I should probably check that, huh?” and pulled it from his pocket.

He’s frowning down at it now. “I. Need to make a call. I’ll be right back.” He excuses himself, and walks a polite distance away. You grow increasingly concerned as he looks more afraid. He paces just out of your sight.

You wait. For a while. Well, maybe it just feels like a while because you’re waiting for Seta, the most popular guy in the world, to come back from an incredibly personal phone call. But still. You decide to check on him.

“Yukiko. Yukiko no. The recip- the recipe says you nee- NO, no, that won’t give it texture, that’ll just- just calm down, put the seafood away, you’re just making curry- just plain curry- Yukiko”

You’re not sure you want to know.

 

“No, don’t listen to Chie listen to the reci- no, that’s not what I meant, you know- Yukiko-”

 

You really don’t.

 

* * *

 

 

It’s Saturday evening when you call him, asking if he’d like to catch a movie over the weekend.

“I’m sorry, I actually-” You hear a muffled noise of the other end. When he speaks again, you realize his voice is extremely strained. “I’m kind of sick, I’m not sure I can really go anywhere this weekend.” You make some vaguely concerned noise, more focused on the fact that _Souji Seta got sick_.

“It’s nothing contagious,” he assures you. “I think I ate something that was- uh, a little past its time, you know?” He laughs weakly. “We can do it another time, right?”

You assure him that you can hang out when he’s feeling better.

 

* * *

 

 

(You don’t know that he is receiving a series of admonishing texts from a boy very far away, being berated for his ridiculous eating habits because Partner, you really need to stop “testing your courage”, you’re going to permanently damage your stomach.

None of you know that somewhere else very away, but not very far, a blonde woman is observing a large book with a critical eye and a fond smile. He’s still at it.)


End file.
